Wall Street stocks lower on US-China tensions

(AFP) — Wall Street stocks retreated early Tuesday following mixed corporate earnings and on rising tensions between Beijing and Washington due to reports of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned visit to Taiwan.

If Pelosi does go to Taipei, “the US side will bear the responsibility and pay the price for undermining China’s sovereign security interests,” said China foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

In this file photo taken on July 12, 2022, a sign reading “Wall Street” on a building near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street in New York City. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

Pelosi has yet to officially confirm whether Taiwan is part of her ongoing Asia tour but US and Taiwanese media have reported it will happen.

Other dynamics in the market also point to a pullback.

After stocks rallied in July, investors have been girding for a “normal consolidated trade” that could see markets go sideways or lower, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.9 percent at 32,488.67.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.6 percent to 4,095.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.3 percent to 12,335,19.

Among companies reporting results, Caterpillar fell 4.7 percent after it announced better-than-expected profits but pointed supply chain problems and the strong dollar as headwinds.

Uber surged 16.6 percent as it reported quarterly revenue more than doubled to $8.1 billion amid strong demand for the company’s ride-hailing and food delivery services.